Frustrated new customer
techdaddyk
Enthusiast - Level 2

My wife and I are switching to Verizon from a regional carrier. We ordered two new iPhone 6's on October 20th from the local corporate location and were told that, while the system shows the phones won't ship until November 14th (even though one of them would be ready on November 7th), "they've been shipping a week or two early". We were told there were no promotions available to us (we didn't need the contract buy-out).

November 1st rolls around and they begin offering $150 per line "port-in" credit. I chatted with an online rep on the website and was told "yes, you are eligible, but you should call Customer Support now". Great! $300 discount! I called Verizon Support and was told that we could NOT get this promotion because we placed the order before the beginning date. I argued that we ordered the equipment then, but our account was not yet activated and we had not yet ported in our numbers. Nope, didn't work, and they said the online rep was wrong and shouldn't have said that. "You can cancel and re-order, but the phones won't ship until the 21st."

I tweeted to them, chatted with another rep, and ended up calling them again as suggested by the second online rep. Still no go. I just wanted a small administrative task completed that put a note on my account to get the bill credit I was entitled to. A couple of the employees suggested again that I just cancel my order and re-order the phones. "That would be fine," I said "but I don't want to wait that much longer to get the phones." We had already been waiting two weeks at this point. "Oh, we can get ship the phones by the 14th." Now we're getting somewhere... But I used a gift card to order the phones, so they told me to go back to the store and see what they could do.

I did just that on Monday night. I waiting 45 minutes for someone to talk with me (similar to when I ordered the phones) and told him my situation. "Yep, we'll have to cancel the order and re-order the phones. But the iPhones have been coming in much quicker, so you probably will get them at about the same time you would have." I asked him to look up the dates and verify this. "If you order them today, the ship date shows the 14th. But you'll probably get them next week." Great! This is the same date we had already been told, so no further delay AND we get our $300 bill credit! I went across town to get paperwork, etc. and high-tailed it back to the store because they were closing in 20 minutes. The rep went through everything, cancelled the first order, and put in the second order.

Thrilled that we were going to see our new phones (replacements for our five-year old iPhone 3GS's, no less!) "probably next week" and happy to be switching carriers -- even though our experience had been less than stellar so far -- I went home. The first thing I did was read my email. There's the cancellation for the first order... check! And the confirmation for the second order... check! Wait a second, what's this? "Estimated ship date: November 21st"... !

The bottom line is that this isn't a big deal in life, I get that. But it's terribly frustrating to through all the time and hassle to get exactly what I want (and what I think I'm entitled to), so that I can begin an expensive two-year contract to write checks to Verizon monthly, only to be disappointed again and again. It seems very silly have a new customer cancel and re-order the exact same thing just to get a discount that could be given with the proper check in a box on the computer.

Hopefully my experience with Verizon improves when I'm actually a customer.

Now, back to reading about how my new phone is going to bend, crash all the time, be scratched up, and have all sorts of other problems... I can't wait!  Smiley Happy

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Re: Frustrated new customer
techdaddyk
Enthusiast - Level 2

Oh, and to top it all off, I've noted several times that I could have purchased these directly from Apple and had them ship in "7 to 10 business days".

ARRRGGG!!!

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Re: Frustrated new customer
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

techdaddyk,

We are so glad that you decided to join the best in wireless. I can understand how it can be alarming to start up service with a company and be told different things. We are so glad to hear that you are able to take advantage of the $150 port-in credit. I know that is a huge relief. Did the email advise as to why it was canceled? Were you able to reorder the device?

RobinD_VZW

Follow us on twitter @VZWSupport

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Re: Frustrated new customer
techdaddyk
Enthusiast - Level 2

Under advisement of your reps, with false information, I cancelled my first order purposely. The second order has not been cancelled (at least, it better not be cancelled!) but the whole process caused at least another week of delays in getting my phones.

By the way, when I saw the news reports and press release, this was being referred to as a "port-in credit". It's interesting that that's how you referred to it as well. I was told by at least two of your reps that it was NOT a "port-in credit" but a "new smartphone customer promotion".


Normally, I wouldn't care what you call it as long as I get the full amount; however in this case, that was the reason I was given that they could not honor it without a re-order. They said that I ordered the port-in when I ordered the phones in October, so they couldn't apply the credit because the port-in "began" prior to the promotion schedule. However, my argument was that if it's a "port-in credit/promotion", I should still be eligible because the numbers had not been ported yet. Instead, the port-in would begin when the phones arrive.

Splitting hairs? Perhaps. But that's when a good company stops being silly and does something to make the (new) customer have a warm and fuzzy feeling. What I got was a cold rejection time and again. A lot of wasted time, a long delay in getting our phones (and sending YOU more money!), and a few headaches.

- NOT THRILLED

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Re: Frustrated new customer
phillssuck
Newbie

Are these credits going to be added to your bill in "1-2 billing cycles"?  If so, don't hold your breath!  You will be fighting with VZW for months trying to get them applied.  Took me over 4 months to get mine added on and I had to call every month!

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